These guys are "one pony shows (maybe two)". The Best" to me means able to preform well to good in any sports arena. WIDBY
In this context, I define “best athlete” in terms of versatility and a high level of achievement in multiple sports. Just as Jim Thorpe was proclaimed the “greatest athlete in the world" after winning the pentathlon and decathlon in the 1912 Olympic Games, this honor, in my mind, unquestionably goes to Ron Widby. Consider the following facts:
“From the beginning of fall football drills in 1966 through the end of hoops season in 1967, Tennessee's Ron Widby made his senior season one to remember on both fronts. One of Tennessee's most gifted athletes ever,
Widby began the year being named All-America in football, the NCAA-authenticated punting champion with a 43.8-yard average on 48 punts. In basketball, he was named All-America and conference player of the year after leading a youthful Vol squad to the SEC title.
Widby was a two-time All-SEC selection for Ray Mears-coached teams in 1966 and 1967 and helped the Vols surprise nearly everybody by winning the SEC crown in 1967.
He averaged 22.1 points and 8.7 rebounds his senior year. . . . Widby's career at Tennessee brought a wholesale revision to the Vol record books, as
he left UT the school's second all-time leading scorer (1432 points) and the all-time single season points leader (619 points). He averaged 18.1 points per game during his career and was the SEC's Sophomore of the Year in 1964-65. . . .
He was the last four-sport letterman at Tennessee, with three varsity letters in football, three in basketball, and one each in baseball and golf.
On the night of his home finale, Widby scored a school-record 50 points against LSU, a mark that lasted 20 years, before Tony White canned 51 against Auburn in 1987, the last year the Vols played in Stokely Center. . . . [
T]he Vols brought home the brass ring with a dramatic triple overtime win at the old McCarthy Gym on the Mississippi State campus. Widby had 35 points and nine rebounds that night as the Vols just refused to lose. He had 10 in the three overtimes, including 10 in a row in the extra periods, two in the first, six in the second and two more in the third.”
Ron Widby Led the Vols to the SEC Title in 1966-67 - University of Tennessee Athletics
During the 1964–65 academic year, he won “starting positions in both football and basketball. He also hit nearly .300 in what would be his only varsity baseball season but felt bored by that sport. He then met Tennessee's golf coach who, upon finding out that Widby had also been on Fulton's varsity golf team, invited him to try out for the team. Widby would go on to earn a letter in golf in his junior year. . . . Sportswriter Ron Higgins would say in 2011, "Few athletes in SEC history enjoyed a better senior year in 1966-67 than Ron in both football and basketball." In football, he led the nation in punting average at 43.8 yards, while in basketball, he averaged 22.1 points and 8.7 rebounds while leading the Volunteers to a conference title. He was named a second-team All-American in basketball and was also the SEC's basketball Player of the Year. He also thought about continuing with golf but decided against it because it interfered with NFL contract negotiations.
[O]nce he turned 50, he entered the qualifying school for the Senior PGA Tour twice, just missing out on his second attempt.”
Ron Widby - Wikipedia